Personal, Local, and National: Greg Curnoe’s Vision

Curated by Judith Rodger

Pop art-style painting by Greg Curnoe of a figure, mid-stride, facing left. Areas are painted in solid colours (bright yellow, orange, red, blue, and black) except for the Tweed coat the figure is wearing which is a busy pattern made with small strokes of blue, green, and yellow. The text “LOVE DOESN’T LAST VERY LONG BUT THINKING ABOUT IT DOES” appears across the top of the frame and, lower down, "CHRIST THE BLACKHAWKS," "BLUE OF THE ZENITH," and "MARY WORTH."

Greg Curnoe (1936–1992) was the driving force behind a regionalist sensibility that, beginning in the 1960s, made London, Ontario, an important centre for artistic production in Canada. While his oeuvre chronicled his own local and daily experience in a variety of media, it was grounded in twentieth-century art movements. He is remembered for brightly coloured works that often incorporate text to support his strong Canadian patriotism, sometimes expressed as anti-Americanism, as well as his activism in support of Canadian artists. For more on Greg Curnoe read Judith Rodger’s Greg Curnoe: Life & Work.

About the Curator: Judith Rodger

Judith Rodger is an art historian and adjunct professor at Western University and a cultural leader in London, Ontario. She has worked at Museum London, the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, and the McIntosh Gallery at Western University. Rodger knew Greg Curnoe personally and professionally. In 1995, she began cataloguing his works and archives for the AGO; her interest in his work continues.

Banner Image: Greg Curnoe, Myself Walking North in the Tweed Coat (detail), 1963, oil on plywood, 183.2 x 122.2 cm, Vancouver Art Gallery.